Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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A SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICE
The present invention relates to a simulated smoking
device comprising a simulated cigarette having a
substantially cigarette-like shape and a refill device, the
refill device containing a canister of refill gas and having
an outlet valve in its bottom surface against which the
simulated cigarette is arranged to be pressed to release gas
from the canister into the simulated cigarette. Such a
device will subsequently be referred to as being "of the
kind described".
A device of the kind described is disclosed in our
earlier application WO 2009/001078. In this device, the
refill pack has a shape corresponding to the shape of a
standard cigarette pack. The simulated cigarette is
retained within the refill device and a hinged lid is
provided in the top corner of the device to provide access
to the simulated cigarette. The pack was designed in this
way so as to resemble as closely as possible the act of
opening a real cigarette pack to remove a real cigarette.
However, the disclosure does not address the issue of ease
of use of the refill device.
According to the present invention, a simulated smoking
device of the kind described is characterised by:
a drawer in the side of the refill device;
a recess within the drawer to retain the simulated
cigarette;
a resilient member to bias the drawer into an open
position to allow access to the simulated cigarette; and
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a latch being releasable by an inward movement of the
drawer, whereupon the drawer is unlatched and urged by the
resilient member to the open position, and the latch being
automatically engagable upon closure of the drawer to hold
the drawer in a closed position against the action of the
resilient member.
With such an arrangement, a user wishing to use the
simulated cigarette simply has to push the drawer inwardly,
whereupon the drawer is pushed open by the resilient member
presenting the simulated cigarette to the user allowing them
to readily remove it. Thus, the user can easily hold the
refill device and open the drawer with one hand. They then
have a second hand free to remove the simulated cigarette,
and press it against the outlet valve in order to fill the
simulated cigarette with a charge of gas from the canister.
This is a significant improvement on the previous design
where it was awkward to hold the refill device and open the
hinged lid with a single hand. Users therefore generally
tried to do this with two hands which then made the
subsequent refill process awkward. Therefore, although the
present invention does not mimic the act of opening a
conventional cigarette pack in the same manner as WO
2009/061078, this disadvantage is outweighed by the ease of
use provided by the opening mechanism.
The drawer may be arranged to slide laterally out of
the refill device. However, preferably, the drawer is
pivotally mounted about a bottom corner of the refill
device. A pivotally mounted device is easier to configure,
and can be more reliably operated than a sliding drawer.
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The latch may be any suitable type, for example,
magnetic or electromagnetic, but preferably has a mechanical
interface with the drawer to hold the drawer in the latched
position.
The present invention also extends to a refill device
for a simulated smoking device, the refill device containing
a canister of refill gas, and having an outlet valve in its
bottom surface against which a simulated cigarette is
arranged, in use, to be pressed to release gas from the
canister into the simulated cigarette; characterised by:
a drawer in the side of the refill device;
a recess within the drawer to retain the simulated
cigarette, in use;
a resilient member to bias the drawer into an open
position to allow access to the simulated cigarette; and
a latch being releasable by an inward movement of the
drawer, whereupon the drawer is unlatched and urged by the
resilient member to the opening position, and the latch
being automatically engagable upon closure of the drawer to
hold the drawer in a closed position against the action of
the resilient member.
An example of a simulated smoking device and a refill
device in accordance with the present invention will now be
described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which:
Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the refill
device and simulated cigarette;
Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the refill device and
simulated cigarette showing the drawer open; and
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Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the drawer
closed;
Fig.4 and Fig 5 are a cut-away side view of one side
and a cross-section of an opposite side respectively of a
housing of a second example of a refill device with the
drawer closed;
Fig.6 and Fig.7 are perspective views from opposite
sides of the drawer mechanism of Figs. 4 and 5;
Fig.8a is a cross section of the drawer of the second
example;
Fig. 8b is a detailed view of part `b' of Fig. 8a;
Fig. 8c is a perspective view of the travelling path of
the latch mechanism of the second example; and
Fig.9 is an exploded perspective of the refill device
of the second example.
Many of the details of the device are the same as those
disclosed in WO 2009/001078 and these will not be repeated
here. In particular, the structure of the simulated
cigarette device, the dimensions, pressures, capacity and
composition for the simulated cigarette device and refill
device, and the nature of the refill canister, valve and
refill method are as described in the earlier application.
The improvement resides in the nature of the
arrangement to access the simulated cigarette and this is
described below.
The simulated smoking devices comprises a simulated
cigarette 1 which is as described in WO 2009/001278 and will
not be described further here. Further modifications to the
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simulated cigarette device are disclosed in our own earlier
applications PCT/GB2010/001487 and PCT/GB2010/001488.
The remainder of the simulated smoking device is the
5 refill device. This comprises a main housing portion 2
which is a plastics moulding. This is surrounded by a thin
card sleeve 3 on which is printed various information such
as promotional information. The size of the housing is
preferably similar to the size of a cigarette pack and may
be adjusted to suit particular sizing formats, e.g., to be
the size of a pack of 10 or 20 cigarettes. The housing 2
has a recess 4 in which is contained refill canister 5 of
pressurised refill gas. The canister 5 has an outlet nozzle
6 at its lowermost end. With the canister 5 in the recess
4, the nozzle 6 sits above refill outlet orifice 7. The
simulated cigarette device 1 is refilled by being pressed
against the refill outlet orifice 7 as described in WO
2009/001078.
In general terms, the housing 2 is divided into two
halves with one half containing the refill gas canister 5
and the other part containing a drawer 8 for the simulated
cigarette device. This drawer 8, together with the manner
in which it is mounted and operated will now be described.
The housing 2 has an opening 9 which extends along the
full length and width of the side of the housing opposite to
the side in which the refill gas canister 5 is mounted.
This creates a hollow recess in which the drawer 8 is
mounted.
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The drawer 8 has a pair of projecting lugs 10 (only one
of which is shown in Fig. 1 which engage with corresponding
holes 11 (only one of which is shown in Fig. 1) in the
housing-2 in order to provide a pivotal mounting for the
drawer 8 in the housing 2. The drawer 8 defines a recess 12
for retaining the simulated cigarette 1. A spring 13 is
mounted between the drawer 8 and the housing 2 so as to be
compressed in the closed state as shown in Fig. 3 to urge
the drawer 8 outwardly into an open position in which access
to the simulated cigarette 1 is provided for a user. The
drawer 8 is held in the closed position by a latch 14
mounted in the housing 2 above the canister 5.
The latch 14 is known, among other things, as a "mini-
touch latch" and is well-known in the art. Essentially, the
latch 14 has a pair of jaws 15 which engage with a tongue 16
on the drawer 8. In the closed position shown in Fig. 3,
the jaws 15 engage with the tongue 16 to latch the drawer
closed. In order to release the drawer, it is initially
pushed inwards slightly causing the tongue 16 to be pushed
deeper into the jaws 15. The tongue 16 has a flared shape
which pushes on the jaws 15 forcing them apart. The jaws 15
release their grip on the tongue 16 and the spring 13 urges
the drawer to the open configuration. The opening operation
can be readily performed with one hand. The user then takes
the simulated cigarette and, if necessary, presses it
against the nozzle 6 in order to refill it.
Once they have finished using the simulated cigarette,
they replace it in the recess 12 and push the drawer closed
whereupon the jaws 15 engage with the tongue 16 to latch the
drawer in the closed position. This closing operation can
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simply be carried out by the hand in which the refill is
being held.
A second example is shown in Figs. 4 to 9. Most
of the features are the same as the first example. The
significant change is that a new latch mechanism 19 is
integrated into the refill device withouth the need for the
`mini-touch' latch component. In this way, a series of
features can be engineered into the refill device housing so
that the same function is provided as the mini-touch latch
but there is a reduction in the number of components in the
system.
As shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the housing 2 has a
protruding beam 20 with an angled hook 21 that when in a
closed position, engages with a travelling path on the
drawer 8 as best shown in Figs. 7 and 8c. The path consists
of an inlet entry path 21 and inlet return path 22 leading
to a latched position 23. The inlet return path is
separated from the latched position by a first downward step
24. The outlet path from the latched position 23 consists
of an outlet initiation path 25 leading to a second downward
step 26. On the opposite side of the second step 26 is an
outlet exit path 27. The inlet entry 21, inlet return 22,
outlet initiation 25 and outlet exit 27 paths form a
generally "M"-shaped path as best shown in Fig. 7.
Facing the angled hook 21 is an inlet cam face 28. An
outlet cam face 29 is provided facing the latched position
23.
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From the open configuration shown in Fig. 8c, as the
user pushes drawer 8, the hook 21 initially encounters the
inlet cam face 28 and is deflected sideways into the inlet
entry path 21. As it passes the inlet cam face 28, the
resilience of the beam 20 urges the angled hook 21 back
against the direction in which it is deflected by the inlet
cam face 28, such that it travels along inlet return path 22
dropping over the inlet step 24 and settling in the latch
position 23. In order to open the drawer, the user again
pushes the drawer 8 against the action of the spring 13.
The presence of the first step 24 and the outlet cam face 29
causes the angled hook 21 to travel along the outlet
initiation path 25 in the process dropping over the second
step 26 and into the outlet exit path 27. As the user
releases the drawer, the resilience of the spring will cause
the hook 21 to travel along outlet exit path 27 thereby
releasing the drawer 8. In the opening process, the beam 20
is deflected sideways by the first step 24 and the outlet
cam surface 29. As it leaves the outlet exit path 27 it is
deflected by its own resilience back into the position shown
in Fig. 8c where it once again faces the inlet cam surface
28 so that it is in a position to be re-closed as described
above.
Additionally, the refill hole 7 can be situated at the
bottom or at the top of the refill device according to the
particular format. Should the refill hole 7 become situated
at the top, and the canister will be stored in an upright
position, the latch mechanisms will be integrated further
towards the drawer in order to allow sufficient space for
the refill canister to reside.
